


Old Friends, New Friends

by Peppermint_Miraculous (Peppermint_Shamrock)



Series: Peppermint's AU August fics [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU Yeah AUgust (Miraculous Ladybug), BFF Swap, Background Flagship, Background One-sided Alyanette, Episode: s01 Animan, Episode: s01 Cœur de pierre - Origines | Stoneheart - Origins, Gen, Miraculous Ladybug Origins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 20:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15803664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppermint_Shamrock/pseuds/Peppermint_Miraculous
Summary: Nino and Marinette have been best friends for nearly as long as they can remember, and Alya bonds with the fellow new kid over a mutual interest in superheroes.Naturally, this leads to some things turning out differently down the line.Written for AU August Day 26 Prompt - BFF Swap





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

> 3 in 1 because I couldn't pick just one idea to go with.

“Since when do you sit up front?” Marinette asked.

“Mlle Bustier insisted,” Nino grumbled, removing his headphones now that Marinette was here to talk to. But as soon as she had plopped down next to him, Chloé materialized and threw a fit.

“But Chloé, I always sit next to Nino…” Marinette protested.

“Too bad,” Chloé said. “This year, Adrien’s coming to school, and _that’s_ going to be his seat. Right in front of me, of course.”

“Who’s Adrien?” Marinette asked. Chloé and Sabrina laughed and mocked her for not knowing, making Nino’s already present irritation grow stronger.

“Come on,” Nino said quietly to Marinette, standing up. “There’s another front row.” It wasn’t worth arguing with those two, and besides, he knew Marinette would be absolutely miserable if she had to sit in front of Chloé for the entire year. Marinette reluctantly followed, head down, and accidentally dropped her box of cookies.

“Sorry,” she said to Nino. “There’s only one left, want to split it?”

“Hell yeah,” he said.

“Sometimes I think you’re only friends for me for the free cookies,” Marinette joked.

“Not true,” Nino argued. “I’m also friends with you because who else would listen to me ramble about film direction for five hours every time we watch a movie?”

Marinette chuckled.

Across the way, Chloé started throwing another fit. Some other girl, one Nino didn’t recognize, had sat down in “Adrien’s” seat.

“I don’t see any “Adrien”,” the girl said, glaring up at Chloé. “If he gets here, then _he_ is welcome to ask for “his” seat. But until then, I’m not moving.”

Chloé flushed, clenching her fist, and looked rather like she might spontaneously combust. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking on Nino’s part. Still, there were appreciative murmurs running around the classroom.

“I wish I could stand up to Chloé like that,” Marinette said softly.

“I don’t know that it’s worth it,” Nino answered just as quietly. “That girl just made herself Chloé’s number one enemy.” As soon as Chloé recovered from the unfamiliar situation of someone actually standing up to her nonsense, she was sure to try to make the new girl’s life hell. Nino didn’t envy her.

But maybe at least Marinette would get a break from being Chloé’s favorite target this year.

The rest of class passed uneventfully. What came next, however…

Well, of all the things Nino could’ve anticipated as part of his first day of the new school year, a rock monster supervillain definitely wasn’t one of them. He was reasonably certain he hadn’t just been transported onto a movie set, but maybe the crew was just _really_ good at hiding the cameras.

No, he didn’t buy that either.

The students were all directed to go home, and Nino was only too happy to oblige. He pulled up the news on his computer to see if anyone had any answers. No one did.

“This is seriously crazy,” he said to the empty room. He pulled out his phone and texted the same thing to Marinette, and followed it up by asking if she wanted to play an online game with him. Hey, it wasn’t like they could do anything about the city getting destroyed by a supervillain. Might as well do something fun to pass the time.

When he didn’t get a response for several minutes, Nino started to worry.

**marinette? are you there?** he sent, hoping she would respond soon. Nothing came, and Nino was really fretting.

**i’m hoping you just dropped your phone somewhere because otherwise i’m starting to get concerned** , he typed, then deleted, then retyped, and deleted again. He wavered back and forth between calling her parents to ask about her. Then they called him.

“Nino, is Marinette with you?” came Sabine’s obviously frantic voice. Nino’s heart dropped to the ground with dread.

“No,” he said, keeping his voice as level as he possibly could. “She’s not.”

This…wasn’t good. A terrifying monster was tearing up Paris, swatting away law enforcement like flies…and Marinette was missing. She could be trapped, she could be hurt, she could be in serious danger. Marinette…Marinette would hardly go seeking danger, but if she hadn’t been able to avoid it…

Nino knew he couldn’t do anything against a rock monster, but dammit if he was going to leave Marinette out there alone. They’d been best friends since they were little, and if anything ever happened to her…

He didn’t want to think about that. So instead, he ran out into the streets, looking for anyone who might be trapped or injured as a result of all the damage the creature had done. He managed to help a few people, and directed emergency services to those he couldn’t. But he never found Marinette. Maybe…just maybe she was out doing the same thing he was, somewhere else. It would be like her to do something like that, and get so busy helping others she didn’t have time to check her phone.

He was going to hold onto hope that that was the case.

Rumors spread quickly among the emergency crews and the other concerned citizens like Nino that were aiding them.

“Superheroes? Really?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“No way. That kind of thing doesn’t happen.”

“Neither do giant stone men!”

“If it’s true, if they really took the guy out…”

“I hope so. Look at how many people have gotten hurt already.”

Nino’s phone buzzed. He took a break from the rescue operations, suddenly aware of how much his arms were aching. He was never the most athletic person to begin with, and it had only been sheer determination and worry for his best friend that had kept him going this long. He knew he’d be paying the price tomorrow, and he had no doubt every muscle in his body would be more sore than he’d ever experienced before.

He sat down on the curb, and quickly retrieved his phone, immeasurably relieved to see a message from Marinette.

**Sorry for worrying you! I’m fine. As for the game, maybe later?**

**don’t do this to me again** , he responded. **do you know if it’s true? did the monster get taken out by superheroes?**

**Yeah! It’s all over the news right now. And the monster wasn’t a monster at all, it was Ivan, transformed into a bad guy! But he’s fine now.**

**dude that’s seriously insane** ,Nino said. It was hard to believe that Ivan, of all people, could cause damage like this. Guy maybe looked intimidating, but he couldn’t hurt a fly. Well, not before today, anyway.

He was definitely going to have to check out the news after this.

But when he finally got home, the news wasn’t as good as he’d been led to believe. More people were being turned to stone. Fortunately, they weren’t moving, but still. Nino could only count himself lucky that neither he nor anyone he knew was affected. And well, if the city really had superheroes now (and from the looks of the footage the news kept showing, there was a compelling case for it), then they’d be sure to fix it soon, he was sure. He wasn’t worried.

Marinette, on the other hand, seemed a lot more bothered by the situation, as Nino found when she joined him online later that evening. She definitely wasn’t playing her best, seeming distracted and even…sad. Truth be told, he wasn’t playing his best either, but that had more to do with the punishment he’d put his muscles through earlier.

“Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure her. “We’ve got superheroes to fix things now, right?”

If anything, it only made Marinette worse, as she looked down from the webcam towards her hands.

“What if they can’t?” she asked in a quiet, uncertain voice. “What if Ladybug isn’t really superhero material?”

“If she’s anything like you, I’m sure everything will be fine,” Nino said.

That agitated Marinette. She looked up and around, but wouldn’t look directly at the screen.

“What do you mean, if she’s anything like me?” she asked, voice wavering. Her hands slipped on the controls, and her character took a hard hit. “I always screw things up, all the time.”

“You really don’t,” Nino said, frowning. He hated it when Marinette got like this. It had only gotten worse with further and further exposure to Chloé, even if Marinette didn’t admit that the girl had that much effect on her. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, dude. Sometimes you make mistakes, yeah, but you always work hard to make them right. That’s what I mean, I guess. If Ladybug works half as hard as you do to fix things, then we’re in good hands.” He finished with an unconcerned shrug.

“I always just make things worse when I try to help,” Marinette said, throwing her character back into the fight.

“No you don’t,” Nino said, letting out a frustrated sigh that was only slightly because of the hit his character just took. “Do you remember when you broke my stereo system?”

“Of course I do,” Marinette said, her fingers pounding at the controls as she still refused to meet Nino’s eyes. “That’s just the sort of thing I’m talking about. I tried to fix it and only made it worse.”

“But that doesn’t matter,” Nino insisted. “What mattered is that you tried, you stayed up all night to try to fix it for me. That meant way more to me than you breaking it in the first place. And when you couldn’t fix it, you insisted on giving up your own allowance to pay for a replacement. So in the end, you fixed things, didn’t you?”

Marinette was silent, her fingers continuing to press at the controls as she considered his words. Nino pressed on.

“I’ve known you for years, Marinette. You never stand by when you can help, even when you don’t have to. I know you’ll always come through in the end. And, sure, I don’t know these superheroes like I know you…but I’ve got a hunch that we can expect the same from them.”

Marinette was silent for several moments more, but her fingers had gone still.

“You’re right,” she said eventually, briefly meeting his eyes, before she turned her gaze away and dropped her voice to a murmur. “I can’t just stand by…I’ve got to clean up my own mistakes…”

Her gameplay and mood improved considerably after that.

.

.

.

The previous day had been something of a mixed bag for Alya. On the one hand, an actual supervillain had shown up! And she’d gotten to meet some actual superheroes! And her footage of said supervillain and superheroes had ended up on the news, and her new blog already had tons of hits. That part of things had Alya feeling more excited than she had ever felt before.

On the other hand, the new school sucked. Well, maybe it was too early to make a judgment call. But the only person Alya had so much as talked to was the class bully, who she’d managed to piss off, of course. It was kind of disheartening. She wanted someone to talk to about the superheroes, and about her blog, and everything. But while Alya wasn’t shy by any means, everyone already had their groups, and she was an outsider.

So, she wasn’t looking forward to school today, and promptly took her seat and took out her phone, looking at the growing hits on the Ladyblog to cheer herself up. She only enjoyed a few minutes of peace before Bitch Queen showed up, however, and this time she had some eye candy on her arm.

“Move, new girl,” Bitch Queen commanded Alya with a haughty glare. “Adrien’s here today, so get out of his seat.” She jerked her thumb towards the back of the classroom, and Alya mentally prepared herself for the three-on-one argument. But, to her surprise, the boy spoke up softly.

“It’s fine, Chloé. The bench has room for two seats,” he said, and took the seat next to Alya, closer to the door. And oh boy, did Bitch Queen get a sour look on her face at that. Alya nearly chuckled at how the other girl was at a complete loss to respond…after all, the boy had been nothing but polite, so she couldn’t lash out at him. She huffed, and turned away. Alya turned to the new boy.

“So, you must be Adrien,” she said. “I got an earful yesterday about you.”

“Sorry,” he said, ducking his head. “Chloé can be a bit…insistent.”

Well, that definitely wasn’t the word Alya would’ve chosen. But she had a feeling that the new guy was alright, even if he did hang around with Bitch Queen.

“Um, so as you know, I’m Adrien. Hello, it’s nice to meet you…” he continued, sticking his hand out to shake. Alya blinked at the formality. Had this guy ever interacted with normal people before?

“I’m Alya,” she answered, unsure if she should take the guy’s hand or not. “I’m new too.”

“That’s…hey! Chloé, what are you doing?”

Alya turned to see that Bitch Queen had apparently decided to take out her frustrations on the students across the row, having her lackey place chewed gum on the empty seat. Adrien immediately got up and tried to intervene to remove the gum. And, unfortunately for him, that was just when the occupants of that desk entered the classroom. The girl gave him an earful, and Adrien retreated after a feeble and ineffective attempt to defend himself. Alya started to cut in in his defense, but he waved her down.

“Don’t, it’s not worth it,” he said quietly.

“But you didn’t do it,” Alya protested. “You should’ve told them what really happened.”

“I don’t want to get Chloé in trouble,” he said. “She’s the only friend I’ve ever had.”

Alya stared. Well that really, really sucked. She didn’t think he’d react well to her saying that, though. So instead, she opted for a different approach.

“Well, fine. I’m deciding to be your friend. Now you can tell on her.”

He stared at her, then started chuckling.

“Thanks,” he said, smile on his face. “I appreciate it. But you really don’t have to…”

“The only thing that lets evil prevail is the inaction of good people,” Alya quoted. Adrien tilted his head.

“Majestia fan?” he asked, smiling, and Alya bounced in her seat.

“Yes! Are you a fan too? Did you read the latest issue? What did you think of…?”

“Yes, no, and no spoilers!” he answered.

“Aw, shoot,” Alya said, pouting. He was a fan, but she couldn’t talk with him until he read the latest issue, she’d be bound to give something away. But there was something she could talk about. “Well, now we have real-life superheroes here in Paris! Isn’t that amazing?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, his smile widening, and he leaned forward a little. “Do you think they’re cool?”

“Of course!” Alya said, unable to sit still. “They were awesome! And I got to see them firsthand! I was the one who got that footage that’s all over the news, you know,” she said proudly. Recognition flashed in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, I thought I’d seen you bef…” he cut himself off, but Alya didn’t notice, too caught up in finally having someone to share this all with. Her sisters were already tired of hearing it.

“And look at this!” she continued, waving her phone in front of his face. “The Ladyblog! I’m going to be the number one source of superhero news in this city, just you wait!”

“Cool!” Adrien said, looking genuinely excited. “I’ll definitely subscribe to that.”

Alya couldn’t be happier. Finally, someone who could share her enthusiasm! And to make things even better, class had barely started before Stoneheart appeared once again, actually bursting through the classroom door. This was an even closer look than she’d gotten yesterday! As Stoneheart left with the small Mylène girl and Bitch Queen in hand, Alya turned to her new friend to suggest they follow for the best view of all the action…only, he was nowhere to be found.

She shrugged, figuring he must have already ducked out of the classroom. His loss. She certainly wasn’t going to miss this for anyone or anything! She ran out of the school as fast as her legs could carry her, phone ready and recording the whole while. The statues of yesterday had come alive – there were so many of them! This was going to be an epic battle!

Something came flying towards her, and Alya didn’t have enough time to move. But someone else did.

She found herself grabbed around the waist, and pulled along to just barely avoid what would certainly have otherwise been a very painful situation to be stuck in. Not to mention, very difficult to film from.

“Hey, be careful, alright, Alya?” Chat Noir said as he set her down. “Safety first, unless it’s really fun,” he continued lightly. “But getting hit by a car, not fun.”

Any nerves from nearly being hit vanished as Alya practically exploded in glee. She was talking to a superhero! He knew her name!

…How did he know her name?

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug shouted, as she ducked, rolled, and zipped out of the way of two Stonehearts in an impressive maneuver that Alya was disappointed she only caught the tail end of on camera. “There are too many of them, we can’t fight them all. We have to focus on the main one.”

“A purrfect plan, my Lady!”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the endearment and obvious wordplay. Chat Noir turned back to Alya and winked.

“Happy filming,” he said, saluting her as he launched himself into the air after Ladybug.

And Alya, she took off running after them. An epic showdown for the ages, and it was going to be a thing to see, she just knew it.


	2. Nino Akumatized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino is thrilled for Marinette when she gets to design an album cover for Jagged Stone. Until he finds out she didn't get paid for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An alternate Akuma for Nino, since Bubbler wouldn't happen in this universe.

“You designed an album cover for _Jagged Stone_ and you didn’t _tell_ me?!”

“Sorry,” Marinette said sheepishly, wringing her hands. “I just got so caught up with working that I forgot to tell you. They wanted it done by the end of the day, and first I tried to do what the producer said but Jagged didn’t like it, so then I had to redo it, and then I stayed up all night to finish it, and…”

“I’m not mad,” Nino reassured her, because he wasn’t. More just in shocked disbelief that this had happened at all. “But seriously? This is amazing, Marinette! I can’t believe, out of everyone, even over famous artists, Jagged Stone specifically requested _you_ to design for his album. That’s just…how does that even happen?”

“I know!” Marinette said, practically squealing in delight. “I could hardly believe it myself!”

“You realize you’re basically buddies with an internationally famous rock star now? How did you even pull that one off? Seriously, whatever you did, you need to pull that on famous film directors so you can introduce me…”

Marinette laughed.

“Well, if that ever happens, I’ll be sure to let you know right away! But I don’t think I’m a magic friend magnet or anything.”

“I think you are, dude,” Nino said. “The evidence is overwhelming. The only person you’ve never been able to befriend is Chloé, and she probably doesn’t even have a soul, so that doesn’t count. Everyone else it’s been practically instantaneous. I mean, with Adrien you even went overnight from shunning him to being friends even though you can’t get out a coherent sentence around him…”

“Hey! I’ve gotten a sentence out around him…at least once. I’m getting better,” Marinette said, crossing her arms and pouting in mock offence, before they both burst out in laughter. There was never any heat to his teasing Marinette about Adrien; it was never any worse than Marinette’s own poking fun at herself. After all, were Nino in the position of having a crush, he was sure he’d be just as bad or worse than Marinette was, so he could hardly judge her for it.

“How much did they pay you for this, anyway?” Nino asked. “Was it just a flat sum or do you get a cut of the sales?”

“Uh…I don’t think I got paid?” Marinette said. Nino’s mouth dropped open as she shrugged, unconcerned. “His producer just showed up and said Jagged requested me to do it. He didn’t say anything about money.”

“What?! They asked you to design something, in under a _day_ – no, _two_ things, since you had to redo it – for _free_?!?” Nino said indignantly. That was basically _theft_! He had thought Jagged Stone was better than that.

And Marinette didn’t seem bothered at all.

“It’s fine, I’m happy enough just to get the chance to design the cover for him at all!” Marinette said.

“No, it’s not fine!” Nino said, angry. “They’re making money off work they took from you for nothing! That’s not cool! You have to go back and ask them for fair payment.”

“I don’t mind,” Marinette said. “It’s for Jagged Stone!”

 _Nino_ minded. Nino minded a lot. It was just like Marinette to shrug this off, but he wasn’t going to let her get taken advantage of in this way. The music industry – lots of creative industries – was full of this kind of nonsense, and if Marinette let it happen once, she’d let it happen again, and again. What kind of a best friend would he be if he let her go down that path? Someone as talented and friendly as Marinette deserved to be successful, not have her success stolen from her by unfair and greedy people.

So, Nino set off to go have a _talk_ with this producer of Jagged Stone’s, since Marinette wouldn’t.

But this Mr. Ross guy just wouldn’t listen.

“The deal’s done,” he said, annoyed.

“But it’s not fair,” Nino said, trying to restrain his frustration and remain respectful. “She put all this work in for you and you won’t even compensate her for it?”

“This is how the business works, kid, now get out of here.”

Nino left in a huff. How the business works? What bullshit. This was completely unfair! Marinette deserved better than having her work just taken by assholes like that!

He’d tried to help and it had come to nothing. He felt helpless and he hated it.

So when a voice offered him power, power to make things right, Nino took the deal.

Dark power consumed him at his word of agreement, and Nino was lost. Only his anger and frustration and vengeful desires remained, twisted into a mockery of his soul. The mockery stood up, a cruel smile twisting his lips as he named himself Repayment. Or perhaps Papillon had named him such. It was irrelevant, now. The only thing that mattered was revenge. And of course, due payment to Papillon for this chance.

He had managed to gather Mr. Ross, Jagged himself, and Jagged’s agent Penny, prepared to enact his revenge, when Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up to ruin things. Repayment whirled on them, furious with their interference. But perhaps he could reason with them.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! How much have you given for this city? And how much have you been given in return? Can’t you see how you’re being taken advantage of? It’s wrong! And I’m going to make sure that greedy guys who take and take and take can never take again, starting with these guys, who refuse to compensate Marinette for her work!”

“I don’t know, the city gave us a statue,” Chat Noir said, spinning his staff in one hand. “That’s gotta be worth a lot. I don’t know what the deal is with these three, but we aren’t gonna let you attack them over it. Right, my Lady?”

Ladybug, however, was staring.

“Nino?!”

Repayment fumed, irritated to be called by that name, a distant memory that had no place in who he was now.

“I’m _Repayment_ ,” he growled. “And if you can’t see reason, I’ll be taking your Miraculouses!”

“Don’t listen to Papillon, Nino!” Ladybug pleaded. “If anyone in this city is taking advantage of people, it’s him! He’s tricking you into doing _his_ dirty work!”

Repayment faltered. But Papillon’s voice echoed in his heads, whispering of Ladybug’s lies, and how much everything would be better if she no longer stood in Repayment’s way, and his conviction was restored in only moments.

“Wrong!” he said. “Papillon has given me power to help Marinette and everyone else who’s lost out to people like this, and your Miraculouses will be how I repay _him_!” And with that, he moved in for the attack, beginning their game of spinning and dodging.

He was powerful and he was fast, but Ladybug was clever, and between her and Chat Noir, Repayment was fighting a losing battle. His object of power was ripped from him, and his strength and will and anger were sapped from him in an instant as it was snapped in two.

The darkness lifted, and Nino found himself again, disoriented as he looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar place, with no recollection of how he’d gotten there. Or of anything in the recent stretch of time.

As his eyes fell on the heroes sharing a fistbump, he realized what must have happened.

“Oh no,” he groaned, his eyes drifting over to Jagged Stone and his associates. “I’m sorry…”

“No worries,” Jagged said. “Happened to me just the other day, didn’t it? You weren’t quite as rock and roll a villain as me, of course, but…”

“And besides,” Penny interrupted. “You brought an important issue to our attention. Didn’t he, _Bob_? It seems we owe someone some compensation for her _very successful_ album cover.”

Nino took no small amount of pleasure in seeing Mr. Ross squirm. At least something good had come out of this.

He couldn’t wait to see the look on Marinette’s face when she got the check.


	3. Animan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya's gone and gotten a crush on Marinette, and Adrien insists on "helping".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Animan, where Alya's the one with a crush instead of Nino. Some one-sided Alyanette, obviously, and background flagship.

“You’re staring at Marinette again.”

“No, I’m not,” Alya protested, quickly looking away. Adrien didn’t look convinced, giving her a knowing grin.

“Go on, ask her out already!”

“I can’t just do that!” Alya said.

“Alya Césaire, fearless reporter, chases down supervillains daily, interviews the ones that kidnap her, never flinches in the face of danger…can’t ask a girl out,” Adrien teased.

“Well, I’m sorry, but we can’t all be so rich, famous, and professionally pretty that girls literally throw themselves at you,” Alya retorted. She snuck a glance back at Marinette, who was sitting on the stairs, talking with Nino.

“You make that sound a lot better than it actually is,” Adrien said. Alya snorted.

“Oh no, how horrible it must be to be attractive and desirable,” Alya said, without the slightest trace of pity. She just barely refrained from rolling her eyes.

“You’re plenty attractive,” Adrien said. “You just need to take the initiative! I’m sure Marinette will accept.”

“And how can you be so sure? Maybe she’s not even interested in girls. This isn’t without risk for me, you know. I’m not exactly ‘out’ to anyone but you, imagine if she takes it badly?”

Adrien didn’t seem concerned.

“Anyone who hears you talk about Ladybug and Chat Noir for more than a couple minutes is probably pretty well aware that you’re bi, Alya.”

“Not my fault that they’re both really hot and wear skintight suits,” she grumbled. Adrien seemed oddly pleased with the statement. “But you’re missing the point. It’s easy enough to admit that superheroes who I don’t even have a chance with are attractive, it’s another to ask an actual, regular girl out, who could take things really badly.”

“Are you saying that Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t real people?” Adrien said, continuing to tease, before turning serious. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m sure Marinette isn’t like that at all; she’s always very nice – even if she’s not interested I’m sure she won’t be cruel about it.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Alya said distractedly. Marinette was laughing across the way, and even from this distance, it was impossible to miss the way she just lit up while doing so. “But what if someone else overhears and isn’t so kind about it?”

“Meet with her somewhere private?” Adrien suggested. Alya shook her head.

“No, I don’t want to make her feel trapped.”

“Hmm…so you need somewhere open, but secluded…”

That was how they decided to invite Marinette to the zoo. Or rather, Adrien talked Alya into it. And into wearing headsets, for some reason.

“Are these really necessary?” she asked.

“Yes, because otherwise you’ll fall back on plausible deniability that this is a ‘friendly’ outing, instead of asking her out properly. I’m here to make sure you go through with it,” he said. In Alya’s opinion, he was enjoying this way too much. This wasn’t even about him! And he didn’t need to play matchmaker for her!

“I’d be fine on my own,” she said, but didn’t remove the headset, as she made her way towards where Marinette was waiting for her.

“Hey, Alya!” Marinette greeted, standing up. She then looked around Alya in, quite frankly, adorable confusion. “Where’s Adrien? Isn’t he coming?”

“Oh…uh…” Alya hadn’t expected that, but now that she thought about it, she really should’ve, since Adrien had insisted on “helping” with asking Marinette to the zoo. “You know how he is, always busy. He’ll uh…he’ll be here later. We can wait for him.” She tried not to glance over to where he was hiding in the bushes.

“Oh. Okay,” Marinette said, sitting back down on the bench. Alya sat next to her, in awkward silence.

“Go on, ask her!” Adrien said over the headpiece. “Or at least talk to her!”

Alya was getting a little annoyed by the endless prodding, but made several attempts at small talk all the same. They all fell flat.

“He’s not coming, is he?” Marinette asked.

“Tell her that I am, but that you had something important to tell her first!”

“Stop trying to backseat-drive my love life!” Alya hissed into the earpiece.

“What?” Marinette asked.

“He’s coming, he is, but he’s…being stubborn,” Alya said, snapping her attention back to Marinette.

“ _I’m_ the stubborn one?!”

“Stubborn?” Marinette asked, tilting her head slightly. If being adorable was illegal, that alone would’ve gotten her maximum time. Alya felt her heart flutter as Marinette continued staring at her in earnest.

“He wanted me to talk with you alone,” Alya said in a rush before she could stop herself.

“Why?” Marinette asked.

“Because I want to ask you something. Something important,” Alya said, stalling.

“Tell her that you love her!”

She was about five seconds from ripping that headpiece right from her ear.

“Marinette…I…please don’t take this the wrong way, but I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in…?”

She was cut off by the sounds of screaming. Both she and Marinette jumped up as Kim and Max ran by in terror, followed by…was that a panther? Alya looked up down the path where the boys had come from, only to see even more various animals, out of their cages and preparing to storm down the path. There was something eerily organized about it all – there was no way that this was a normal thing. Most likely an akuma attack.

Thank god. Akuma attacks were _way_ less nerve-wracking than asking a girl out. Speaking of which, she had to get Marinette out of the way…wait, where had she gone? Evidently Marinette had already taken off, and as the animals started stampeding closer, Alya figured she’d better follow suit. She didn’t even have time to get her phone out to start filming, she was too busy fleeing from rampaging animals.

Still less nerve-wracking.

Alya felt herself grabbed from behind, and she struggled only a moment until she realized it was Ladybug, who quickly shoved her alongside someone else into one of the animal cages.

“Stay here until it’s safe!” Ladybug instructed, slamming the cage door shut before Alya could protest. Nino, however, did manage to get out a short protest, but it did nothing. Alya sighed. A failure of a date and her chance to update the Ladyblog snatched away…this day was a disaster.

“Hey,” Nino said, sounding resigned to their situation.

“Hey,” Alya answered without enthusiasm, poking at her phone to see if anyone else was reporting on the situation.

“So uh…what were you wanting to talk to Marinette about?” Nino asked. “I know it’s probably none of my business, but…”

“You were listening to that?” Alya asked, startled as she looked up at her phone. Adrien had promised her seclusion, dammit!

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. He tapped at his ear. “Marinette had me on headset. She seems to have lost hers now, though, I’m not hearing anything from her.”

“I’m not hearing Adrien, either…” Alya said, half in thought as she realized he’d gone quiet.

“Adrien was here?” Nino asked.

“Yeah, because he thinks he was being _helpful_ ,” Alya grumbled. “He’s not and if he’s smart, he ditched his headset so I can’t yell at him for how much of a disaster that was. I’m never taking his advice for asking girls out again.”

“Wait, you were trying to ask Marinette out?!” Nino asked. Alya’s head shot up as she realized she’d said that out loud.

“I mean…uh…” Alya floundered, trying to think of an excuse. Nothing came. She might as well own up to it, she’d already dug her grave far enough today. “Yeah. Yeah I was,” she said firmly. “Because she’s cute and I have a crush on her. And if you have anything bad to say about that, I…”

“No, no, I wasn’t…I mean, who hasn’t had a crush on Marinette at some point, right?” he said, giving a slight laugh. “I hate to tell you that it’s kind of a lost cause, though…”

“Not into girls?” Alya guessed. It stung, but she had always known it was a possibility. Probably just as well she never got around to saying anything…

“No. I mean, I don’t know. She’s never shown any interest in any girls as far as I know. But she hasn’t really shown any interest in boys, plural, either…she kind of…has a single track interest…”

“Oh. Oh my god,” Alya groaned, as everything started to make sense. Why Marinette had kept asking for him, why she’d come in the first place… “It’s _Adrien_ , isn’t it? Goddammit. He’s always stealing all the pretty girls away without even realizing it…” She wasn’t resentful, not really. She was a little jealous, if she was being honest, but nothing that she’d let come between her friendship with him. But she was still going to grumble about it a bit.

“I’m not going to answer that on the grounds that Marinette would kill me even though half the school already knows,” Nino said. “But…you said it, not me.”

“It is _really_ obvious now that I think about it…” Alya said. Marinette was a _mess_ around Adrien…Alya didn’t know how she’d missed it. That was probably why Nino had been on call…

“You know what?” Alya announced after a period of silence. “I’ve decided I’m all for this. If I don’t have a chance with her, well, I’ll admit if I had to lose out to anyone it’d be Adrien. Besides, I’ll be able to get my _revenge_.” She gave her best evil cackle. And if Adrien was to be believed, Alya was excellent at those. Nino looked slightly concerned.

“What do you mean, revenge?” he asked warily.

“Oh, nothing much,” Alya said sweetly. “Just going to show him how annoying it is when someone gets too pushy about involving themselves in your love life.”

They continued plotting – Alya’s words – until ladybugs swirled around them and released them from the cage. At that point, Nino suggested they try to go find Marinette, and they set off to the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery. Along the way, he tried calling Marinette several times, but she didn’t pick up until they were in line to buy cookies. Nino stepped out to answer, while Alya bought the cookies.

As she headed back outside, she wondered if she should confess to Marinette, after all. It was strange, how it seemed so much easier now that she knew she had no chance. It was not unlike how she felt she could freely talk about how attractive she found the heroes of Paris.

“I’m so glad you’re both alright,” Marinette said. “And Alya, I’m sorry, we got interrupted when you were about to tell me something. You can tell me now, if you want?”

“Oh! Um…” Alya said, surprised Marinette remembered. Well…she might as well. “Well, actually…I wanted to ask you out on a proper date,” Alya admitted. Marinette’s eyes went wide, her mouth parting in surprise…she looked quite taken aback, but to Alya’s relief, she didn’t look upset by it.

“I…I’m flattered, but,” Marinette started, but Alya interrupted.

“Don’t worry, Nino told me I didn’t have a chance, since you’ve got your eyes on a _certain someone_ ,” she said hastily. Marinette immediately spun to glare at Nino, who backed a step or two away, holding out his cookie in defense.

“She figured it out on her own, I swear! I never told her his name!”

Marinette still regarded him doubtfully.

“Hey, I’m all for it, actually,” Alya said. “I’ll help, even!”

“You will?” Marinette asked, turning back to her. “Even though…”

“Yep! You two would be cute together, and honestly, he needs _someone_ to get his mind off of Ladybug,” Alya said, shaking her head fondly.

Marinette blinked.

“Did you say Ladybug?” she asked slowly and squeakily. “Adrien…likes…Ladybug?”

“Oh yeah, he’s got a terrible crush on her,” Alya said. “Boy can get almost any girl he likes, and he goes and pines after a completely unreachable superhero. But don’t worry,” she added reassuringly. “I’m certain we can get him to get his heads out of the clouds. Nino and I came up with a bunch of schemes…”

But Marinette didn’t appear to be listening anymore. Her eyes weren’t focused on Alya or Nino, and she seemed distracted.

“I…um…need to go,” she said. “Forgot to do something. Oven project. Left the sewing on. Greattalkingtoyouthankssomuchhopeyouhaveagooddayseeyouatschool _bye_!”

And in the blink of an eye, she grabbed the cookies Nino had offered her and was running off in the other direction.

“But Marinette…this is your house…” Alya said, nonplussed. She glanced over at Nino, who just gave a shrug and a “that’s Marinette for you” look. “So…back to plotting, then?”

But their plots were soon foiled, as Adrien came into school the next day, practically glowing as he started ecstatically rambling to Alya about how Ladybug had unexpectedly showed up and spent the evening with him.

Alya smiled and congratulated him, but soon shared an incredulous look with Nino. Yeah, he’d said Marinette had terrible luck in love…but this was just absurd. Superheroes didn’t just randomly drop in on people like that. Even she, the Ladyblogger, had never gotten a chance to speak to Ladybug when there wasn’t some kind of attack going on (though Chat Noir always seemed to give special attention to the Ladyblog in the wake of attacks, much to Alya’s delight).

Marinette must have pissed off some higher power or something. Alya wasn’t sure how, considering that Marinette was nice and sweet and cute and pretty, but maybe that sort of thing pissed deities off. Alya certainly couldn’t be sure unless she ever got the chance to meet one, but it was certainly within the realm of possibility for some jealous being of power to curse Marinette’s love life.

But neither Alya nor Nino were the kind to give up.

Even if it was an uphill battle, they were going to get their best friends together, one way or another.


End file.
